Japan launches auction for two offshore wind power projects

The Japan government launched a third major round of auctions on Friday to select operators for two new offshore wind power areas capable of generating 1.05 gigawatts (GW) in the northern part of the country.

One area is in the southern side of the Japan Sea off Aomori prefecture, near Tsugaru city and the town of Ajigasawa which will have capacity of 600 megawatts (MW). The other will be off the coast of Yamagata prefecture near the town of Yuza and will have capacity of 450 MW.

Both were selected in October as “promotion areas” to develop offshore wind farms and will be fixed-bottom wind farms. The projects could start by mid-2030.
The successful bidders will be allowed to use the sea areas for up to 30 years.

The auction will run to July 19, with the result expected to come in December, according to a statement issued by Japan’s land and industry ministries.

Japan introduced a new law in 2019 to promote the development of wind farms and plans to select operators for up to 10 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind project capacity by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040.